The Tea Party

The Tea Party
(287 words)

The tea party was not going well, and Sally’s anger simmered.

Mr. Fuzzy Bear had accused Barbara-Ann of eating the last of the cookies, and she hadn’t even tried to deny it.  Sally could hear Froggie and Mrs. Bunny whispering to Barbara-Ann, advising her to stand up for herself and call Mr. Fuzzy Bear a liar to his face.  But Barbara-Ann just sat with a stiff smile because she didn’t have the courage to fight.

Sally snatched Barbara-Ann from her little chair.

“Barbara-Ann!  You’re a bad, bad dolly!  You never say anything when you should.”  Sally banged the doll against the table, and little plastic cups and saucers bounced around and fell to the basement floor.  She banged the doll harder and harder, screaming at her, until finally, her plastic head popped off.

Sally moaned over her and said, “I’m sorry.  You know I love you.”  Her kisses of contrition were halted by the click of a key in the door at the top of the stairs.  Sally grabbed the broken doll and rushed to the little cot in the corner.  She pushed Barbara-Ann underneath with the other broken dolls.  It was better to keep mistakes hidden.

She knew that was why she was here.  The man had told her she’d made too many mistakes and that was why her mom and dad didn’t want her any more, why they’d let him take her away.  It must be true, Sally reasoned, because they’d never come to get her, never even come to see her.

Smoothing down the man’s favorite nightie over her legs, Sally heard his heavy tread on the stairs.

She knew that the frozen smile on her lips must have looked just like Barbara-Ann’s.


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Author's Note: This item was written for the Daily Flash Fiction Contest on 10/30/2009, using these prompts: liar, door, hidden.
I wish this story was entirely fiction, but I see stories on the news every month about the horrible abuse of kidnapped children.